Thabo Sefolosha spoke up for himself Wednesday, taking the stand in his own defense as his trial neared a conclusion.
The Hawks player testified for more than half an hour, giving a gripping account of an April incident outside a Manhattan nightclub. Sefolosha was arrested and charged with three misdemeanors and also suffered serious injuries that cost him a chance to play for the Hawks in the playoffs.
Police alleged that Sefolosha ignored orders to move as they were trying to clear the area after a separate incident in which Indiana Pacers player Chris Copeland and two other people were stabbed. Sefolosha was charged with obstructing governmental administration, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.
Beyond denying that he had ignored or refused to follow police orders, Sefolosha painted the officers involved as profane and violent in their interactions with him. He and three people who were with him that night testified Wednesday that New York Police Officer JohnPaul Giacona swore repeatedly at Sefolosha as the group moved down 17th Street towards Tenth Avenue and away from the club 1OAK in Chelsea.
“(Giacona) said, ‘With or without a badge, I’m going to (expletive) you up and I can (expletive) you up,’” Sefolosha said.
Sefolosha was arrested several minutes later on Tenth Avenue when, police said, they reacted after he lunged towards Officer Daniel Dongvort. Sefolosha said he had simply reached to hand a $20 bill to a homeless man he knew as “True,” who also testified Wednesday.
“The young man was about to hand me money,” said the homeless man, whose actual name is Amos Canty. “I turned my head around and (the police) have got him. They were handling him kind of rough.”
Videos shown in court Wednesday showed the latter stages of the arrest, which Sefolosha later testified to in graphic detail.
“I said, I’m just going to give the guy some money,’” Sefolosha said. “(The officer) grabbed my arm. I dropped the money. He said, ‘That’s it, you’re going to jail.’ I turned and tried to put my right hand behind my back. I had a lot of money in my left hand and I tried to put it in my pocket.
“Two or three officers were pulling me. I said, ‘Relax.’ They never gave me a direct order. One is pulling on my right. One is pulling on my left and someone had a hand on my neck. After five seconds, I realized they wanted me on the ground. I felt my leg going up, with somebody kicking me on my right leg.”
Sefolosha suffered a broken right fibula and ligament damage, injuries from which he is still recovering. He wasn’t at full strength in the early days of Hawks training camp, although he still hopes to be ready for the season opener later this month.
Former Hawks player Pero Antic, who was with Sefolosha at 1OAK in the early morning hours of April 8, also testified Wednesday, as did two women who joined them at the club. Cherrise Porter described the confrontation with Giacona.
“We were walking away from the club when he came up to us and yelled, ‘Get the (expletive) off my street,’” Porter said. “We proceeded to walk towards the right and he comes up again and screams, ‘I told you to get off my street. What the (expletive) are you still doing here?’”
Porter intended to leave with Sefolosha, Antic and another friend, and was already in a car when police began to arrest Sefolosha. She exited the car and used her phone to take video of the incident. She and others can be heard on the tape saying, “He didn’t do anything. why is this happening?”
The other woman in the group, Carolyn Colon, testified that she asked another police officer why Giacona was accosting Sefolosha. She testified that officer told her: “I don’t know why [Giacona] is doing this.”
Earlier Wednesday, prosecutors presented the final two of the six police officers who testified against Sefolosha. Officer Jordan Rossi admitted to taking out his baton during the arrest, although he said he never used it on Sefolosha. Rossi also said he heard other police officers tell Sefolosha to “stop resisting” and to put his hands behind his back, commands that defense witnesses, including Sefolosha, said they never heard.
Alex Spiro, Sefolosha’s attorney, moved to have the case dismissed before he presented any witnesses. Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Robert Mandelbaum denied the motion on two of the counts (disorderly conduct and resisting arrest) and reserved judgment on the third count (obstructing governmental administration).
The trial will resume Thursday morning, when prosecutors will have a chance to cross-examine Sefolosha.
